Drew, You're The Only Exception
by aurelie jinsei
Summary: May moved to a small city in Hoenn when she was fifteen. When she was eight, her father died after telling her love didn't exist. Her mother committed suicide a few days later, and she considered her father's words true. Then she meets Drew...and things change. Rated T for mild language, one suggestive moment, suicide. Song fic, one-shot.


**I needed something sweet but somewhat sad, so here it was.**

**I was inspired by a ContestShipping picture on DeviantART by cicuskamarichu and I was listening to the song 'The Only Exception' by Paramore and I realized how great the song fit with them in my head (though to be honest, I don't remember Drew from the days I watched Pokémon). **

**So, a song fic. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Drew, May, Pokémon, Paramore, or the song The Only Exception. Everything belongs to its rightful owners.**

**Warning: Contains ContestShipping. If you are offended by such material, I suggest you turn around now.**

**OOCness? May be intended, may not. ;) For you to decide. **

_When I was younger I saw my daddy cry and curse at the wind_

_He broke his own heart and I watched as he tried to reassemble it _

I sat on the grassy hill, listening to nothing but the breeze. My thoughts were blank. My feelings were as well. I felt like my father might have felt back when I was eight years old and he claimed the world was going against him. He told me that my mother hated him, that his co-workers wanted him to die, that I thought he was a terrible father. He cursed at everything, blaming it all on the trees, the Pokémon, the wind, the clouds. It was that day that he told me love never existed. I knew his heart had been shattered into pieces, but how and why, I never found out. But he died a few days later, the black flame of hatred that had consumed his heart going along with him.

_And my momma swore that she would never let herself forget _

The day he died, my mother had been utterly devastated. She locked herself up in her room and refused to come out, so I had had to feed myself and everything else. Late at night, I heard her loud sobs and couldn't fall asleep, my heart burning with a terrible feeling, a feeling I couldn't identify. But I didn't and couldn't do anything to help my mother, so I tossed and turned at night, listening to her cry her eyes out every night.

The house and my heart just felt so empty when she disappeared, too.

She killed herself.

_And that was the day that I promised I'd never sing of love if it does not exist_

I had finally decided my father's words were true. If mother had loved me, she wouldn't have killed herself and left me alone in the large world, would she? What made it worse was that in her will, she had specifically requested to be put into the farthest cemetery from where father was buried. That tore apart my heart, especially since it all happened so fast, and since I was in the next room over when she chose to commit suicide. It was heartbreaking, but I chose to be mature and accept it.

I accepted that love was not real with all my broken heart.

I never sang those cheesy love songs that blared out of everyone's radios anymore. I never glared in envy at young couples anymore. I shut love away from me, to protect my too-broken up heart.

I sighed.

Then_ he_ came into my life.

_But darling, you are the only exception._

I first met him when I moved into a small city somewhere in Hoenn. He'd offered to show me around with a flip of his green hair, and I accepted (angrily, though). His arrogance annoyed me to no other end.

Then he took me through a path in a forest. When we emerged, he spread out his arms with a "Ta-da!" escaping his lips. I looked around and gasped.

We were up high, on a cliff that overlooked a large, beautiful, sparkly blue lake. Surrounding the small area at this edge of the cliff and forest were roses, all glowing with health. When I started to question him about this, he told me he came here every day and watered them. He stated it was his secret spot, and that I was the very first person he ever showed it to, besides his best friends. Then we went silent, and it felt like a good scene…Until he flipped his hair again with a smirk on his face and I slapped him as hard as I could, knocking him onto the ground. I then turned around and stalked away, ignoring his loud laughs.

_You are the only exception. _

The next time I met him, I was registering to go to the local high school in the school's front office. He walked by, only glancing into the room and noticing me. Then he took a giant step backwards and his eyes widened when he realized it was really me. The principal seemed to notice him, and asked him what he was doing. I turned around and copied his reaction.

"G…g…Grasshead!" I called out, and he facepalmed.

"You're my age?" he asked before the principal shot him a glare and he whistled, walking back to his locker. When I turned back, the principal was looking me in the eye.

"His name is Drew Shū. I suggest you stay away from him…He's no good." The office remained silent after that and I was approved into the school.

_You are the only exception. _

A week later, I walked up to the school. It was my first day as a tenth grader. When I looked up at the top of the steps, I saw Grasshead—Drew—standing there with a group of people. I shook my head and slowly ascended the steps leading to the front doors. It was then that Drew whirled around and noticed me, a smile creeping onto his face.

"Hey, new girl! What's your first class?" I scowled at him when all of his other friends turned to look at me.

"Gym," I muttered, preparing to walk away when a girl with orange hair dressed in a yellow tank top and denim short shorts gleefully pointed out, "I have Gym first period too!" Then the group surrounded me and started introducing themselves. The girl with the orange hair sighed and pulled me out, smiling.

"I'm Misty, Misty Kasumi," she said, shaking my hand.

"May Haruka," I said, looking back at the group of people she'd dragged me away from.

"Do you know Drew Shū?" Misty suddenly asked, her eyebrows raised. I slowly nodded.

"He showed me around town on my first day," I explained. The said Grasshead then strolled up next to Misty, a smug smile on his face.

"What are you here to be?" he asked me, flipping his hair again.

"A Coordinator," I answered, glancing at my watch. It was only 7:30 am—I was very early. Drew gasped and Misty's eyes widened.

"…I guess you're my rival now, then," Drew said with a wink. Misty shook her head.

"Another Coordinator? What's so amazing about Contests?" Drew and I both shot Misty a glare before we started laughing simultaneously. I glanced over at him as I was bent over, clutching my stomach. He did the same.

I knew it'd be the start of a strong friendship.

_You are the only exception._

I walked into the lunchroom with a happy sigh. I'd been going to the high school for about a month now. I'd joined Grasshead's group of friends, and they'd all accepted me for who I was…even though I was a little weird.

I spotted Misty and her raven-haired best friend, Ash, waving at me from a table to the left next to a large bay window. I quickly ran over to them and dropped my sack lunch on the table, sliding onto the bench. A few seconds later, Drew slid in next to me.

"I can't wait for Coordinating Class," he said with a sigh, picking up a fork to poke at his school lunch. I nodded, taking a bite out of my sandwich. I heard Misty snicker and glared at her, which shut the orange-haired girl up. The table fell silent until Dawn Hikari, Kenny Kengo, and Zoey Nozomi, three other soon-to-be-Coordinators, took a seat at the table. They started talking loudly, chattering about some rumors going around the school. Everyone else participated in the conversation, but I sat back and remained silent, thinking back to when I was eight.

"Oi, May," Drew called, waving his hands in front of my face.

"What?" I snapped, sighing.

"Can we come over to your house after school?" Dawn asked innocently. When I looked at everyone else, including the rest of the group that had come to eat, I noticed they were all staring at me with puppy eyes.

"Fine," I grumbled, sighing again when they started cheering. "But when we get there, you have to promise not to screw up my house," I quickly added. They all nodded, their heads bobbing, and I scowled. I knew they would make a mess of my just-cleaned house…

"Hey, May!" I turned around and saw everyone gathered in the hallway. I pursed my lips.

"Show us the way," Zoey said with a smile, tugging at her orange jacket. I slammed my locker door shut after pulling out my backpack and walked out the school, mumbling nonsense no one else could really understand.

"We're here," I said, twisting the key I placed into the door. The door swung open, revealing my fairly tidy apartment. It had an amazing view of the town, and most of my friends ran over to the windows, gasping in awe. Then Ash noticed something odd.

"Where are your parents?" Ash asked, his voice slightly wavering. I looked down at the ground.

"I live by myself," I started, biting my lips, "because they're both dead." Everyone fell silent, including loudmouth, obnoxious Grasshead.

"….Oh," Ash whispered, shifting around nervously.

"S'okay," I said, yawning, "not like you would've known." After that, they mostly brightened up, Drew being an exception. When everyone else was wildly playing a Wii game in my living room, he snuck into my room, where I sat on my bed, staring at a picture of me, my mom, and my dad.

"Do you miss them?" he asked, surprising me. I nodded, putting the picture down.

"I don't know how my dad died, but my mom committed suicide late at night a few days after he died," I whispered. Drew nodded sympathetically.

"My mom passed away five years ago," Drew stated, gazing out my bedroom window, "when I was ten. She had an asthma attack," he said in a fairly calm voice. I glanced up at him. He appeared calm, if not a bit somber. "I got over it two years later, but my dad never did. He then hooked up with this skank, and they got married." He sighed. "She's my stepmom now. But I can't stand her." Drew grimaced. I felt a few tears roll down my face silently and sniffed. Drew's head snapped around to look at me, and his face softened when he noticed my tears.

"It's okay now, right?" he whispered, pulling me into a tight hug. I nodded, crying into his chest.

_Maybe I know somewhere, deep in my soul, that love never lasts_

I sighed. I felt like staying on this hill forever, thinking of the past, making up a happier future for myself. A happier ending. A warm feeling spread through me, even though I knew I couldn't sit here forever. He'd find me soon enough.

_And we've got to find other ways to make it alone and keep a straight face_

It pains me whenever I think of him. A warm, pretty feeling flutters through my heart and stomach. At the same time, it's a sickening, disgusting feeling flowing through me. I noticed a while back that I couldn't get him out of my head. But we're almost approaching the end of twelfth grade…I gulped. It means I've known him for about two years by now…and it means I've known I had some pretty weird feelings for him for maybe a few months. But I've tried and tried again to keep a straight face and pretend he was just a friend…but was it that obvious? I shook my head. Nah. Love didn't exist in this world….did it?

_And I've always lived like this, keeping a comfortable…distance _

I've been this way since I was eight years old. In denial. But, this time, I really feel…that maybe, just maybe, dad's last few words were wrong….maybe.

_And up until I had sworn to myself that I'm content with loneliness…_

_Cause none of it was ever worth the risk!_

Maybe I did love Drew? Sure his arrogance really got on my nerves, as well as his dumb hair flips. But he was always there for me. Sure, he may have teased me, but he never meant it. He always stood up for me, defended me. Now that I think about it, if I did love him, it wouldn't be that painful…would it?

_Well, you are the only exception_

I walked through the forest path to that cliff Drew showed me on my first day in the small city. I leaned over the edge, taking in the breathtaking view, when I heard a twig snap and leaves rustle behind me. I jumped a bit, and felt myself lose my balance. I was about to fall off the edge when I felt an arm slide around my waist and stop me from falling. My rescuer slowly started pulled me up off the edge with a sigh and a chuckle.

"Pay attention, girly, or one day, you'll really fall off this damn ledge," a voice said with a chuckle. I felt my face warm. He pulled me up onto the ground again with a happy sigh. I turned around and saw the infamous Grasshead. He whacked me on top of the head with a grin, and I kicked him in the shin, knocking him over, and walked away, thinking back to my first day—it had turned out an awful lot like this.

_You are the only exception._

Misty and Ash dragged me down the city road, yelling some nonsense I could barely understand. All I knew was that we were going to Drew's house, where everyone else was waiting.

"…trust me, you're going to love it! His house is like a mansion, and, and…." Ash and Misty mumbled on, and we soon arrived at a humungous house—no, scratch that, a gigantic _mansion_. I gaped in awe at the giant house, and then I remembered what he'd said about his parents.

"My mom passed away five years ago. I got over it two years later, but my dad never did. He then hooked up with this skank, and they got married. She's my stepmom now. But I can't stand her."

I shuddered, but slowly followed Misty and Ash into the ginormous mansion. There, in the first room, everyone jumped up from the velvety red sofas they were lounging on. I closed my eyes. Three…two…one…

The room exploded into a bunch of chatter, making it almost impossible to hear anything but nonsense words. I felt a hand close on my wrist and opened my eyes to find myself being dragged away by Drew.

"Where…?"

"Just wait."

He pulled me through his mansion for at least five minutes before leading me into a garden…indoors.

"Whoa…" I glanced around in amazement. The majority of the planted flowers in the indoor garden were roses, mainly red. I turned to him, coughing a little. It was quite misty inside the garden.

"Do you have, like, an obsession of roses?" I broke out in a combination of coughing and laughing and heard Drew growl next to me.

"I just think they're beautiful," he said with a sniff, turning away. I wiped the tears from my eyes, still laughing.

"I like roses, too," I said, my hands on my knees. Drew turned his face around a bit, and I could spy a deep shade of red on the portion of his face I could see. I felt my face heat up and I bent my face towards the floor, catching my breath.

"You know," Drew whispered quietly, "you're the only one I've ever shown this place." My face heated up even more and I nodded, making a small sound of agreement.

_You are the only exception. _

I walked into Coordinating Class a little too early and plopped down into a seat beside the window. I sighed. The classroom was on the third floor, and I had a pretty good view of the field below, where I could see other teens scramble around the campus, desperate to get to their class (somewhat). I heard the door open and shut and someone take a seat next to me.

"Hey, Dreamer Girl," a voice jokingly called. I closed my eyes. I think the veins in my forehead popped.

"What, Grasshead?" I snapped, turning to stick my tongue out at him. He frowned, somehow happily.

"You're early," he finally said after a long pause.

"So are you." I exhaled and bit my lip as the rest of the class' students ran into the room and took a seat. The bell rang immediately after the last person took their seat, to which that said person sighed in relief.

"Hey May, Drew," a voice whispered. I whirled around and saw Dawn, Kenny, and Zoey seated behind me and Drew.

"Oh, hey," Drew whispered back. I lifted up my hand and gave them a tiny wave. The hushed whispers shared around the room stopped the moment the teacher, Ms. Nakage, walked into the room. She had long, sleek black hair and a rather large chest. Today, she was wearing a dark purple blouse and a tight knee-length black shirt with black high heels. Her hair was pulled back into a very loose ponytail, and her purple eyes shot across the room, daring for anyone to speak. She slapped her folders onto her desk and yawned.

"Okay, class, today is a free day…" She plopped down into her desk chair and yawned again, tipping her head backwards as she leaned back further into the comfy chair.

"Yes!" shouted a few students from the other side of the room.

"It's rare to get a free day," Kenny said with a satisfied sigh. "Last time we had a free day was back near the beginning of the school year." I whistled.

"Dang." I looked around the room to find a napping Ms. Nakage and loudly chattering students.

"Zoey, can you draw?" Drew suddenly asked. Zoey scratched her forehead.

"Well, it depends on what you mean…I can draw portraits, though." Drew smiled.

"Can you draw a picture of me, Dreamer Girl, Dee-Dee, and Penguin Boy?" Me, Dawn, and Kenny glared at him angrily.

"Um…sure?" Zoey pulled out her binder and gently took out two sheets of blank white paper. She quickly wrote her name on the bottom left corner. "Alright, get into a pose," Zoey said calmly. Dawn and Kenny scurried over to our desks. Kenny sat down on Drew's right side and Dawn sat on my left side. The result? Drew and I were squished up against each other, and I felt my cheeks blaze.

Zoey quickly began to draw, and in less than ten minutes, stretched out her back and arms with a satisfied sigh. "I'm finished," she said, yawning.

"Really?" Kenny asked, interested. Drew snatched the drawing before he could see it, though, and smirked at it.

"Hey, I wanna see it!" Kenny cried out, trying to reach for the paper. Drew leaned back, however, and slithered onto another desk, preventing the smaller boy from grabbing the paper.

"Dammit," he whined, pouting. Dawn patted his shoulder to comfort him and I sighed, shaking my head.

"Why'd you want me to draw you something, anyway?" Zoey asked out of curiosity. Drew shrugged.

"Something to commemorate one of our only free days?" Zoey and I shook our heads with disapproval as Drew was thrown into a laughing fit.

Later that day, I was walking over to Drew's house with him.

"Why'd you want Zoey to draw you something?" I asked, trying to pee into his schoolbag.

"No reason, really," he whistled. I raised an eyebrow.

"Now I really want to see it," I said with a pout. He paused, thinking for a moment.

"I'll show you at my house." I crossed my arms and poked insults at him the entire walk there, and Drew cooperated with me (he insulted me back) willingly. He pushed open the grand doors to his house and threw himself onto a sofa. He dug through his bag, pulled out a slip of paper, and tossed it to me. I snatched it out of the air before it whirled and twisted away to the floor. I looked at it and my mouth hung open in amazement.

On the paper was a very detailed, very perfect drawing. My face was pressed up against Drew's. Kenny and Dawn were off to the sides, grinning. Kenny had both his hands up and Dawn's fingers formed a peace sign. Zoey drew blush on my face (grr) and…on Drew's face? I was surprised to see it on his face too. He was staring down at me with a small smile on his face. I blushed madly, staring down at the picture. Why…?

_You are the only exception. _

I was sitting on the edge of the cliff overlooking the lake early one afternoon. Next to me was Drew, who was staring down at the lake silently.

"Are you okay?" I asked. He jumped; I assumed I crashed his train of thought.

"Yep," he said, doing another arrogant hair flip. I grumbled angrily. "The real question is, Dreamer Girl, are _you_ okay?" I looked up and he winked at me. I gulped and turned around to face the glittering lake. "Giving me the silent treatment, are ya?" His hand suddenly flew to the back of my neck and I jumped. He reached the right side of my neck and yanked me towards him, till my face was in his chest. He then cuffed the top of my head and ruffled my hair. I growled.

"What the hell are you doing…?" I asked, trying to break free of his grip.

"If you struggle, you'll fall off the cliff," he sing-songed. I grumbled.

"So what?" I saw him scowl from the corner of my eye. I chuckled to myself and felt my face blaze up.

_You are the only exception!_

I woke up to hear someone going through my stuff. My eyes flew open and my hands thrust out in front of me to push whoever was in my room.

"Ouch," mumbled the intruder. I panted and got up out of my bed and turned my lamp on.

"Grasshead? What the hell are you doing here!" I looked down at the green-haired teenage boy on my floor, hands on his head where his thick skull made contact with my carpeted bedroom floor.

"I came to wake you up, geez," he said, rubbing his shoulder.

"…Oh." I glanced at my calendar. "Wait a minute…today's a holiday! We don't go to school!" I glared at him.

"At this school, we go to school today," he mumbled, getting up.

"O-oh…" I let out a few low laughs and scratched the back of my head.

"Now, get your ass dressed." He glanced at me. "We're late."

"Oh, crap!" I practically threw myself at my dresser and pulled out some random clothes. I quickly inspected them to make sure they were matching. Then I realized Drew was still in my room.

"Get out, Grasshead!" I yelled at him. He sweatdropped and slowly started to back away.

"S-sorry…" He closed the door behind him and I heard him make his way to the kitchen. I thew on my clothes, grabbed my bag, and slipped on my shoes. I hurried toward the door.

"Aren't you going to eat some breakfast?" Drew asked, shoving a granola bar into my face.

"No time!" I grabbed his hand, made sure he had his schoolbag, and rushed out the door with Drew behind me. We arrived at the school five minutes late, to which almost everybody was now getting there.

"Phew..." I sighed with relief and let go of Drew's sweaty hand. We walked up the steps and found our group of friends.

"What took you so long, Drew?" Misty asked teasingly.

"We had to run here, duh," he stated as if it were obvious (which it was; we were sweating).

"Uh-huh…" Misty muttered with a sneaky look in her eyes. I blushed furiously and Drew glared at her and told her nothing of the sort happened. She just nodded and tugged at Ash's ear, much to the boy's dismay.

_I've got a tight grip on reality, but I can't…_

I heard quiet footsteps behind me. I sighed as quietly as I could. I knew he'd find me…so why'd I hide out here?

The said boy walked up next to me and sat down on the dewy grass next to me. He draped his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. I blushed.

…_let go of what's in front of me here…_

All the memories I had of him flashed through my head. I was so confused. Did love exist or did it not? Did I love Drew or did I not? I had no idea. My brain was a scrambled, hot mess, and the cause of it was the green-haired, green-eyed boy next to me.

_I know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up…_

I exhaled out of my nose. Drew finally decided to break the silence.

"What are you doing hiding out here?" he quietly asked. I let a few minutes pass by before I answered.

"Just thinking." I could tell Drew didn't buy it, because his grip on me tightened.

"Tell me."

"I just did."

"The truth."

"…"

_Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream, whoa!_

We stared off in the distance for what felt like hours. He sighed and tilted his head backwards.

"…If you're wondering, I won't leave you," he mumbled. What. The. Hell?

"What are you talking about?" I asked with a stressed laugh. I turned to loo him in the eye and he glared at me without moving from his position.

"I said, 'I won't leave you.'" I fell silent.

"You make it seem like I love you," I whispered. Drew didn't answer.

"…You do," he finally let out. My eyes widened.

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"Don't tell me what I feel!" I yelled at him. "Plus, you're an arrogant, self-loving, hair-flipping, annoying Grasshead bastard! Why would I like you, of all people?" Drew smirked. I blushed, but tried to keep my stare as cold as possible.

"…Why would you note all those things about me if you didn't like me?" he asked with a wink.

"I've…I've known you for two long years," I mumbled. "It's only natural I should know about you.." Right? Drew shook his head. It seemed he wasn't going to give up anytime soon.

"No, it's really not," he chuckled. I suppressed my desire to punch him, to wipe that smug smile off his perfect face.

Wait, what?

Perfect?

My face heated up again, and Drew definitely noticed this time.

"What'd, ya eat something hot?" he jokingly asked, making my face go even redder. "Cat got your tongue?" he whispered, lowering his face closer to mine. I growled softly.

"G-g-g-g-get away from m-m-m-m-me!" I shrieked, pushing him off of me. When I looked over at him, though, I didn't see the expression I wanted.

He was laughing.

He was laying there, hands over his stomach, laughing like I told him the funniest joke he'd ever heard. I growled again.

"You're…really…cute when you're mad," he managed to let out. I inched backwards a bit.

"N-no I'm not!" I yelled at him. He lifted his face a bit and looked me in the eye.

"Just admit it—you love me, this sexy beast."

"Asshole." He placed a hand over his gaping mouth in pretend-shock.

"How dare you!" He somehow speedily got up and pounced at me, making me fall backward and roll down the hill. Only, he went down with me. When we stopped rolling, I spit grass out of my mouth and felt more blades of grass tickling my neck. When I opened my eyes, Drew was on top of me.

"GET OFF ME, YOU—YOU—YOU SICK, PERVERTED BASTARD!" I screamed. Drew laughed again.

"Admit it, and I'll get off." He wrapped his arms around my waist and placed his chin on my chest, staring into my eyes expectantly.

"I-I-I…." I stumbled and stammered over my words. He smirked.

"What about you? Do _you_ like _me_, Mr. Grasshead?" Hah. That wiped the smirk off his face.

"…Yes." My eyes widened. What…?

"Now, you answer me. Do. You. Like. Me." His expression looked more serious now. I gulped.

_I'm on my way to believing…_

"I…" I thought back on all of our time spent together, thinking carefully. I remembered how he tore up the drawing he asked Zoey to draw of him, me, Kenny, and Dawn—he ripped Dawn and Kenny out of the picture, oddly enough. If what he said is true, than it made sense…

But did I return the feelings?

My blazing face and thumping heart seemed to answer the question for me.

I didn't care if love existed or not now…What mattered was that he was in front of me, right here and right now.

_Oh, and I'm on my way to believing…_

"Silly…" I mumbled, reaching for his neck. "I don't _like_ you…" I pulled his face closer to mine. "I _love_ you." I pulled him to my face and our lips met.

I proved my father's words wrong.

Love did exist.

Drew and I were proof.

…

…**..**

…**.**

**SO touching. In my opinion. ;_:**

**Song by Paramore, it's 'The Only Exception'**

**Please review~! I worked very hard on this!**


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